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A pioneering project: Solar power in the Antarctic

The Antarctic is one of the most inhospitable places in the world: spanning 14,000 square kilometers, with extreme climatic conditions including temperatures as low as ­-89.2 °C and winds more than 200 km/h. Many countries have installed research bases in the Antarctic to conduct various studies in this very special landscape and its unique climate.

The Uruguayan government is a strong advocate for the integration of renewables. The country has been maintaining a research base in the Antarctic for over 30 years. The base was traditionally powered by diesel generators. Besides the environmental impact, the logistics involved made the use of fossil fuels an inefficient and costly solution for generating energy. The government selected Technova Renovables, a Tecnogroup subsidiary, to review the potential and lead on the integration of renewables at the Artigas Base. The challenge was to develop, install and test the performance of PV technology in such a fragile environment.

The success of the project is based on thorough planning, mutual harmonization and the careful selection of components to be installed. To secure constant and dependable energy feed-in, Tecnogroup relies on PV connectors from Stäubli. TheMC4-Evo 2 connectors have been proving their worth from the very beginning and withstand the extreme, unprecedented climatic conditions.